The people were right. The politicians were wrong. Yet the moment the people decided that the politicians could not be trusted to hold parliamentary inquiries, the politicians bypassed their wishes and decided to hold one.

The people were right. The politicians were wrong. Yet the moment the people decided that the politicians could not be trusted to hold parliamentary inquiries, the politicians bypassed their wishes and decided to hold one.

The Banking Inquiry was born. Stillborn, maybe, but born nonetheless. An unwanted child of a plebiscite.

The result of the 2011 referendum on inquiries emphatically rejected a proposal to give TDs and Senators full investigative powers to hold probes on matters of public interest.

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